Tibet Things to Do

 
by sanluipal
 
  •   Things to Do
    by sanluipal
  • Front of the house
      Front of the house
    by ChioQuiroz
  •   Things to Do
    by ChioQuiroz
  •   Things to Do
    by ChioQuiroz
  •   Things to Do
    by ChioQuiroz
 
Plenty of choices
agoda.com Save up to 75%, Don't miss! Live support, Instant confirmation.
Save up to 50% off Hotels Everyday
Expedia.com Photos, Reviews and the Guaranteed Lowest Prices

Sponsored Links

Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Samye monastery

by Helga67

Samye monastery is Tibet's very first monastery built in the 7th century.The Great Hall is three stories high and consists of three different styles: the first floor is in Tibetan style where you will find the living quarters of the Dalai Lama; the second is in Chinese style and the top floor is in Indian style. All the murals and statues in each floor are also painted or sculpted in the three styles. Outside around the Great Hall there are four Stupas representing the Four Heavenly Kings. Each Stupa has an other colour (black, green, white, red). The site is surrounded by a wall.To reach Samye, you can take a ferry to cross the Yarlung Tsangpo river or drive all the way to Tsedang, cross the river by bridge and come back via the north bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo River.Entrance: 40 Yuan

Tip Photo
Sakya monastery

by Helga67

Sakya monastery lies off the friendship highway between Shigatse and Tigri. The region is unique for its grey (kya) earth (sa), hence the name Sakya. From 1073 until 1959, this monastery served as the seat of the Sakyapa Sect and was one of the largest in Tibet . The walls of the monastery are painted in red, white and grey stripes. This is the symbol of the Sakyapa Sect. Also, the houses in the neighbourhood belonging to the same sect have these colours.The monastery differs from other monasteries as it is built like a fortress with watch towers on each of the corners. The monastery has many chapels. There is a very spooky protector chapel that has ugly stuffed wolves hanging from the entrance. The inside has scary looking monsters and masks.

Tip Photo
Yamdrok-Tso Lake

by Helga67

This is a magnificent lake that you can visit on your trip from Lhasa to Gyantse. The lake is 130 km long and 70 km wide and lies at an elevation of 4,448 metres above sea level. It is one of the three holy lakes of Tibet.To get there you will have to pass the Kamba-La pass (4,794 m). At the top you'll have a wonderful view of the big lake with in the distance Mt. Nojin Kangtsang (7,191 m). When the sun is shining you can see different shades of turquoise in the lake. There is a parking lot with clean Chinese toilets (2 Yuan) and locals showing off with their yaks or mountain dogs for pictures (of course you'll need to pay).Unfortunately, the Chinese have built a hydro electric supply that drops water 850 meters out of the lake into the river down below. As Yamdrok-Tso lake is a dead lake with no extra water coming in, the water taken out cannot be replaced naturally. Predictions are...

Tip Photo
Lhasa

by Helga67

Lhasa, at an elevation of 3,650 m, is the capital of Tibet.Lhasa is a big city (the biggest of Tibet) with a big (ugly) Chinese section in the west and the old Tibetan town in the east. This is the spiritual heart of the city and is the place where you should stay.Places to visit when in Lhasa are:- Potala palace - former home of Dalai Lama- Jokhang Temple - most sacred temple in Tibet- Barkhor - the holiest of devotional circumambulation circuits- Norbulingka - summer palace of Dalai Lama- Drepung monastery- Sera monastery- Ganden monastery

Tip Photo
Sera Monastery

by Helga67

Together with Drepung and Ganden monastery, this monastery belongs to the Gelugpa or Yellow Hat Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It is especially visited by tourists for the debating monks. Every day at 3 p.m. the monks come together in the garden next to the assembly hall to debate. This takes until 5 p.m. It is very lively with monks yelling and clapping their hands.Entrance fee: 50 YuanTake bus no. 503 (2 Yuan/p) from Lhasa or a taxi (15 Yuan - 15 min.)

Tip Photo
Tsedang (Zetang)

by Helga67

Tsedang is located about 170 km southeast of Lhasa in the Yarlung Valley along the banks of the Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra). It's an ugly Chinese city which is only worth the stop-over for the nearby Samye monastery and Yumbu Lakhang palace.The area is the birthplace of the first Tibetans who were said to be the offspring of a monkey and a demoness. So Tsedang literally means "monkey's playground".The drive to Tsedang, however, is wonderful. The landscape of the Yarlung Tsangpo valley is really spectacular.

Tip Photo
Drepung Monastery

by Helga67

Drepung monastery was one of the largest monasteries of Tibet. With its many chapels and zig-zagging alleys, it looks like an impressive city. Before 1959 (when the Chinese invaded Tibet) about 10,000 monks lived here, now only 500 remain. During the Cultural Revolution about 40% of the monastery was destroyed. The monastery has different faculties, each with its own chapel, kitchen, dormitories for the monks.The best way to visit the place is to follow a group of pilgrims.Entrance fee: 50 YuanTake bus no. 303 from Lhasa or a taxi (30 Yuan - 20 min.)

Tip Photo
Mt Everest

by mad4travel

This is supposedly one of the best views of Mt Everest from the highway. Personally I don't think its all that impressive as its hidden by brown hills but you may beg to differ.From here on in the road from Lhasa to Kathmandu gets rather impressive with 6 peaks over 8000m and lots of snowy peaks.There is a steep descent over 4000m to the Nepal border and the scenery quickly changes form mountain peaks to steep valleys and cloud forest.It was truly a magnificent drive.Unfortunately, while the scenery was great the road conditions were not, as much is under construction so there are lots of delays and traffic jams on narrow roads with sheer drops below. It all added to the excitement for me tho!

Tip Photo
Drepung Monastery

by mad4travel

Drepung Monastery is one of the great 3 university monasteries of Tibet. The other two are Ganden and Sera. Drepung is the largest of all Tibetan monasteries, and indeed at its peak was the largest monastery of any religion in the world. It was founded in 1416 It is located on the Gambo Utse mountain, 5 kilometers from the western suburb of Lhasa. At its largest, before the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, the monastery housed fifteen thousand celibate monks. It was known for the high standards of its academic study, and was called the "Nalanda" of Tibet, a reference to the great Buddhist monastic university of Nalanda. Drepung is divided into what are known as the seven great colleges -It can be a useful analogy to think of Drepung as a university along the lines of Oxford or the Sorbonne in the middle ages, the various colleges having different emphases, teaching lineages, or...

Tip Photo
Walking the Barkhor Circuit

by Daveg2000

The 800m Barkhor Circuit is an especially memorable experience if you walk it before dawn. You'll see few (if any) tourists, and will be magically swept along with the quietly chanting pilgrims, one or two with goats in tow, spinning their prayer wheels as they slowly move clockwise around the Jokhang temple area (always go clockwise!). In an age of mass tourism, where it's so difficult to experience the timeless spirituality of any ancient land without competition from all the tour buses, doing the Barkhor Circuit before the sun comes up allows you (in my opinion anyway) to come as close as any outsider can to feeling the devotion of Tibetans for this, their holiest site. Taking your time, you can easily complete the circuit in about 20 minutes or so, and there are a few tea houses you can stop in to warm up, either with milk tea or yak butter tea. If you then come back in the middle of...

Tip Photo
Fun things to do in Tibet

Top 3 Hotels in Tibet

Yak Hotel  Lhasa

 8 Reviews and 61 Opinions  This is a supposedly 3 star hotel but why remains a mystery. We stayed there for 2 days on our... 

 Hotels in Lhasa

Gyantse Hotel  Gyangze

 2 Reviews and 29 Opinions  The hotel's official rating is ***, which did mean it was pretty basic - and so it was (it would not... 

 Hotels in Gyangze

Kyichu Hotel (Jiqu Fandian)  Lhasa

 1 Review and 65 Opinions  I stayed at this hotel in February 2007. The beds were hard, but that's normal in China. They had... 

 Hotels in Lhasa

66 Hotels in Tibet
 
Explore the World
Travel Destinations
Travel Highlights

The Place

Reviews and photos of Tibet attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Tibet sightseeing.

Experience Tibet
Things to Do: Cities in Tibet
  1. Lhasa Things to Do
  2. Gyangze Things to Do
  3. Xigaze Things to Do
  4. Zetang Things to Do
  5. Yamzho Yumco Things to Do
  6. Samyai Things to Do
  7. Zhigung Things to Do
  8. Rongpu Si Things to Do
  9. Tingri Things to Do
  10. Nagarze Things to Do
  11. Nedong Things to Do

More Cities in Tibet

 

Questions and Answers

YWLTP profile photo

Q:  I am planning a trip of a life time and have two years to do so… so first I want to get some ideas from seasoned travelers and... 

GrumpyDiver profile photo

A: If you want to hike or bike, Tibet (which is stunning, by the way) is probably not going to work out. The Chinese government will only issue permits for people to enter... 

Read 4 Replies

postQuestion_button

Click here for best deals for

Save Up To 50% On Hotels
ORBITZ.com Find great deals on Orbitz & pay no hotel change or cancel fees
Great Rooms. Great Rates.
Travelocity Hotel rooms at up to 50% off. 
Save up to 50% off Hotels Everyday
Expedia.com Photos, Reviews and the Guaranteed Lowest Prices
Plenty of choices
agoda.com Save up to 75%, Don't miss! Live support, Instant confirmation.

Sponsored Links